The Almost Ambassador (Part 1 & 2) - AAM2017 (non-writer)

Sarat's eyes opened wide as she took her first look at the vast, open plain around her. She couldn't believe the immense beauty that this world held.
Tall stalks of wheat brushed her bare hips as she stepped slowly away from her pod. At least she thought it was wheat. She had learned much in her
time spent studying Earth, most of which took place on the trip from her home world, but botany, as the Humans called it, hadn't really been something
she was strong in. She spent most of her time studying the Humans themselves. They were a truly fascinating species, in Sarat's opinion. Sarat's
people, Skironon, looked similar to the Humans, and in fact it was said that both species had a common ancestor. The Skironon, though, had many more
skin, hair, eye and nail colors than Humans did. Sarat looked at her skin, noticing what made her different from the humans. Her skin was light blue,
almost the same as Earth's sky on a brightly lit day. Her long wavy hair, reaching nearly to the ground, was pure white, matching her nails, her teeth
and her eyes. She pulled her hair over her shoulders, covering her exposed breasts. Sarat didn't understand why Humans always put cloth on their
bodies. The Skironon had no such frivolous social conventions.

Sarat looked to the Sun, basking in its glorious warmth. Skiron's star was much smaller than the Sun, and though Skiron was closer to its star than
Earth was to the Sun, her home was always cold much colder than this. Beyond that the elemental gods, so they were called by most, had a horrible
habit of exacting retribution on any they saw as unworthy, by sending terrible storms to plague their homes. They weren’t really gods, and Sarat
wasn’t even sure they existed. The teachings of her people included many references to the planet Skiron itself attacking them when they’d done
something that was considered immoral. She had seen one of these terrible storms once, sweeping in from the Kulak Sea, destroying everything in its
path.

Sarat was the first of her people to come to Earth, and she had been here secretly for many months now, traveling around the planet to various places
of interest. Her pod's cloaking ability kept her hidden from Earth's technology, thankfully. She had stood at the top of the tallest mountain and on
the smallest island in the sea. She'd seen the grandest architectural feats imaginable and also the most humble. Earth was a world of extremes and
Sarat could not be more in love with the place she now called home. Of course she would have to return to her own world someday, but for now she was
content to travel and learn. The one thing she hadn't been able to do was make direct contact with Humanity. It was what she wanted more than
anything, but the High Lord had counseled her that the Humans may not react well to her presence. Many of them thought that they were the only life
forms in the entire universe.

Sarat shook herself mentally at the thought. She had no idea how they would think that such a vast universe would hold only one planet with life on
it. She thought that maybe with time and further advancement Humans would come to see that everything they know is only the smallest fraction of a
fraction of reality. Sarat knew that there were some Humans that were much further along in their evolution than others. Some of them had made great
discoveries in technology and spirituality, though there was still a great divide between those two ideas. On Skiron technology and spirituality were
understood to be two sides of the same coin. One represented the physical and the other the metaphysical, but both were equally important.

Sarat bent her knees and sat gently on the soft ground, before lying back among the wheat stalks. The High Lord hadn't forbidden her from making
contact, but she couldn't escape the nagging fear that if she did reveal herself to the humans then they wouldn't accept her. Wasn't it better to
remain hidden and continue enjoying the Earth in all its beauty? She let out a soft sigh, wishing that she could just appear as they do. It would make
everything so much easier. The thought of wearing cloth on her body made Sarat cringe though, and she knew that she would never do it. The figures of
life were meant to be marveled at, not hidden away.

Thoughts of Earth and Skiron melded together and soon Sarat drifted off to sleep. She awoke several hours later, having dreamed of a wondrous,
peaceful relationship between the two worlds. She climbed to her feet, stretching quietly. It looked like heavy cloud cover had moved in while she
slept, and a strong wind was blowing through the vast plains. A determination had formed in her while she slept. She wanted so much to see these two
worlds come together, and that meant that she had to make contact. She'd already thought of who to contact and how, and now it seemed that her fear
had subsided enough to let her move forward with the plan. She walked back toward her pod, realizing just how far she'd actually walked away from it.
She could see it in the distance, a speck on the horizon. As she drew closer the wind grew stronger, whipping her hair around her body and throwing
small pieces of debris at her. If her skin wasn't so tough then it may hurt, but it didn't bother her really.

In mere moments, though, the wind blew even harder, as if in an attempt to crush her. Rain began to fall heavily and she looked toward the sky
directly above her. Fear began coursing through her, freezing her in mid-step. The clouds high above had been whipped into a cone. It stretched with
all its might to touch the unmarred plains below it. Sarat's hearts beat frantically and she took off, sprinting toward her pod. She'd read about
these things, tornadoes, they were called. She could feel the wind beating her, the rain pelting her, forcing her to keep moving; to keep running. Her
bare feet struck the ground with fervor as she put all she had into her escape. Her pod was just ahead and she stretched out her arm as if willing it
to move closer to her.

Suddenly, her hair was no longer being whipped around her body. Now it was in the air, being sucked up by the massive monster of a tornado that was on
her heels. A Human in this situation would already have been thrown high into the sky, but the Skironon had bones that were much denser than Human
bones, giving them quite a bit more body weight. Her people were also much stronger than the average Human. Still, Sarat felt as if she were on the
brink of sanity as her fear ate away at what was left of her composure. She knew that a fall from the heights that this tornado would lift her to
would spell certain death for her. She felt the terror grow more intense as her body began to feel lighter. She knew that she had only moments before
the beast tore her from the face of this planet that she loved so much, ending her ambassadorship before it had really even begun.

Abruptly, Sarat's feet left the ground. Just as she realized that her life was at an end, her fingers found purchase on something hard. The pod! She
gripped with all of the strength that she had left onto the warm metal that was, she thought, the top of the entryway to her pod, refusing to give in
to the monster that was now on top of her. She reached forward with her left hand and grabbed the frame of the entryway with it. A small burst of joy
tempered her terror ever so slightly as she realized that the door was programmed to her bio-signature; it had opened as she approached. She pulled
against the wind, straining her body beyond anything she'd felt before. The tornado was a mess of darkness and somewhere in the back of her mind,
Sarat was thankful that she wasn't in a forested or populated area, where massive pieces of debris would likely be flying around with menacing intent.

Finally, at the end of her strength and willpower, Sarat felt the pull of the winds lessen. She fell heavily to the ground, landing with her upper
body inside of the pod and her legs out in the wheat. The rain continued to pour down as she lay there, breathing heavily, too weak to move. Another
moment and she would have been gone for sure. The determination that she had felt as she’d awaken from her midday nap had now dissipated completely.
Too tired to focus, Sarat thought about what had just happened. How quickly this pleasant, beautiful world had turned into a remorseless monster bent
on her destruction.

The rain had slowed to a drizzle before Sarat could make herself crawl the rest of the way into her pod. Once inside, the door closed silently. The
inside of the pod was big enough for one person to live comfortably and was equipped with a matter transporter, social interaction station meant for
contacting her home world, a body cleaning station and sleeping chamber. In the center of the area, facing a translucent wall, was a command chair and
a control and navigation panel for manually controlling the pod.

She gingerly made her way over to her bed. It was a soft mattress that was made of the feathers of the great Sky Beasts of Skiron. Sarat again pulled
her pure white hair in front of her body, covering her breasts, and sat on her bed. She felt numb. She felt betrayed. She wondered why this world had
attacked her in such a vicious way. Thoughts of all that could have been plagued her as she lay down. Maybe, if she hadn’t been so afraid to make
contact with the Humans, she wouldn’t have faced such a terrifying monster as the one that had nearly killed her. Sarat, with a great effort, sat up
once more on her mattress.

“Command,” she said in her soft, musical way, “Take me home.”

As her pod lifted smoothly into the sky, she spoke once more, “Command: vision.” At her order the walls and floor of the pod turned translucent,
allowing her one last look at the world of her dreams; the world that didn’t want her. The tears came suddenly as the reality of the situation hit
Sarat with full force. She would never fulfill her dream of uniting Skiron and Earth in peace. In fact, once she told the High Lord of what happened
he would undoubtedly see it as a personal affront. She feared that it would be the downfall of both Earth and the Human race. She wished she’d never
come here.

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